Monday August 13th MOAS II -1 Day.

 It was a fitful night’s sleep last night. I watched a DVD and wrote up my blog entry, showered and got ready for bed. I finally turned out the light and was just dosing off when in came a male nurse with my first Heparin jab, stabbed me in the leg and bid me good night! So fully awake again I then turned back over and tried to doze off.

 The second half of the night was better and I slept more. It was an early start though. I awoke just before 7am and shortly after the nurse arrived to do my observations. Not long after the anaesthetist arrived and ran through a list of questions. The doctors and consultants then seemed to be inspired by the recent London Olympic relay teams and just as one left the other seemed to arrive, sometimes in pairs, sometimes on their own.

Then came a trip down to the X-ray department for a chest X-ray. I wandered down with the chap from the room next door-Rob who is having his first MOAS at the same time that my operation is being done. This is quite often the practice at Basingstoke to have two being done at the same time in adjacent theatres. I guess it allows the easy transfer of skills with such a large team.

 We returned back to our rooms to be given our second dose of Picolax. This didn’t take long to work and within twenty minutes had the desired effect. I haven’t now eaten any solid food since Sunday lunchtime. Meals have consisted of clear soup and jelly. I think the consistency of the jelly fools the body into thinking that you have had food as I haven’t felt particularly hungry, that said its now 21:45 and I wouldn’t say no to a large Big Mac meal!

 Next came the second Heparin jab, shortly followed by an ECG. The fact that I had shaved my upper body really helped as the sticky pads stuck well and it didn’t hurt too much when they were peeled off. The steady stream of visitors was frequent along with the trips to the toilet. Bloods were taken, my chest listened to on three occasions and my abdomen examined (which prompted another dash to the toilet!). I also met Pat the stoma nurse again. Whilst it’s less likely that I’ll have a stoma this time around I’m still marked up for one just in case. Pat examined me and chose the best spot for the stoma and marked me on both sides of my tummy just in case.

I also met the Pseudo physiotherapist; Jade. She is a new addition to the C2 team as at my last stay whilst there were physio’s they were not dedicated to the Pseudo ward. In addition a dedicated physio room/gym has been created on the ward and is in the process of being equipped. There are stairs to climb, weighted balls, resistance bands and an exercise bike plus various other bits of equipment. They also plan to make use of a Nintendo Wii and X-box at some time in the near future. All of which will help patients with their recovery and give them some ideas as to what they can do when they get home.

 This afternoon I managed to escape the ward for a while and went down to the flat where mum and Tracey are staying. We spent an hour or so there, the change of scenery was good and we took the opportunity to call the girls. It was great to hear their voices and to talk to them. What I would give for a hug right now....

I returned to yet another cup of Picolax waiting for me and the promise of another mad dash to the toilet. I think that maybe I should try out for the men’s relay team for the next Olympics with how quickly I’m having to move!

A final visit from yet another doctor and I was all done. I spent the evening with Tracey and Mum and we sat and chatted. All of us were tired and we face a big, long and stressful day tomorrow. It’s going to be far worse for them than it is for me. I’ll be out of it whilst they wait for the phone to ring with an update as to how things are progressing. So we agreed to bid each other good night at around 8pm. I wanted to shower and shave before bed and they needed to relax as best they could.

It will be an early start in the morning. I’ll be awoken at six am and will have a shower and get changed into my hospital gown. I’ll also have to wear flight socks to help prevent blood clots forming in the legs. Pre op medication is now not administered. Last time I did have this and was pretty sleepy when the porters came to collect me and wheel me down to theatre. This time I can walk down. Tracey has opted to say our goodbye’s at my room rather than accompany me down to theatre. I think that she would just find this too hard and it would upset her too much. I’m more than happy with this; I can say our goodbyes and then focus on the job in hand. This will be the last time I will see Tracey and Mum until Wednesday morning. Obviously throughout the operation on Tuesday I will be asleep and whilst I may return to ICU mid afternoon they will continue to keep me sedated until Wednesday morning. When I first come around I will be intubated however if my last op was anything to go by this is fairly quickly removed.

 At the moment I still feel pretty good, as relaxed as you could expect and not too anxious. I just need to get the next day out of the way and wake up in ICU with my family around me. And I need to hear the words that the surgical team have managed to get all of the PMP out of me once again.......

 It’s now 22:30hrs. I’ve just been stabbed in the leg again! I have also requested some chemical help for sleep tonight to make sure that I get a good night in. I won’t now be able to write up this next section of the blog until I am well enough. Tracey will write a diary from here on in and I’ll type it up at a later stage.

Good night, see you on the dark side of the moon!